It has been an historic year for Nigerian Christian Bible College. We completed the purchase of the land in Ukpom and with the backing and support of our Nigeria brethren we have been able to start the reconstruction phase of the work at NCBC. In recent months we have replaced and repaired water systems, repaired our central power generator, and now some of the most critical work is being done in restoring the administration building (a requirement to retain our accreditation with the Nigerian University Council). The future looks bright as we look at the addition of new vocational programs, provide added security on campus, and with the help of the local government we are hopeful to place a power transformer in the village that will benefit both the college and the community. With great progress there has also been a significant increase in our expenses. Repairs are costly, scholarship funds have decreased over the past several years, and the exchange rate which was in our favor for a long period of time is now shifting back to normal (which means we get fewer Nigerian dollars in exchange). We urgently need your help in raising funds to complete this project. NCBC has been a beacon light not just across Nigeria, but across Africa for the past 62 years. We are close to restoring her to her former estate and that […]

On November 4, 2015 African Christian Schools secured the deed to 20 acres of and that had been leased for over 60 years. It took over 8 months of negotiations and the involvement of so many dedicated people to see this historic event come to pass. For several years Nigerian Christian Bible College has need some significant repairs but the Board of Directors and many of their donors wanted to secure the property before making capital investments. Thanks to some special gifts provided to the foundation from the late Roger & Sarah Church, and a significant commitment from the ACSF Board of Directors negotiations concluded with the five villages who all had a stake in the property where NCBC has been operating the Bible College for the past 62 years. Now the work of rebuilding begins as there is a tremendous need for new water systems, repairs to buildings, but most exciting are the new vocational programs that are being offered the preaching students at NCBC. If you would like to assist in the rebuilding program, or send a work team to assist with the repairs, contact Trent Wheeler at (615) 427-8688.

According to a Reuter’s report on October 22, 2014 the World Health Organization stated that this is “the worst recorded outbreak of Ebola in which 4,877 people are reported dead and 9,936 cases have been reported as of October 19th, but the actually numbers may be three times higher than the reported figures.” The report goes on to state that Liberia has suffered the worst outbreak with 4,655 reported cases. While many long time missionaries are avoiding these affected regions of the world, and others (like myself) have delayed our travels until there are indications that the disease might be contained, our brethren living in Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone continue to carry the gospel into the towns, villages, and city centers. The graphic you see above was actually a sign posted on the vans of Gospel Chariot Ministries as they carried the saving message of the cross to those lost and dying. One such brother is Daniel Sackey in Monrovia, Liberia. A brief bio of Daniel is attached. For two long years now Daniel has pleaded with anyone who would listen concerning the need for a Bible College in Central, Liberia. I remember sitting across the table from him as he recounted the hardships of the Liberian people (long before Ebola devastated their country). All Daniel wanted to do was train preachers and Bible teachers, plant churches, and establish a […]

For several years African Christian Schools has been working to provide vocational training and additional opportunities for our students. In March of this year a report was released in The Guardian that Nigeria was bracing for a severe food shortage and for the past several years Nigeria has been identified as #4 in the world as it pertains to food shortage risks. The ability of our graduates to learn basic survival gardening techniques (as taught to them by Healing Hands International representatives) has provided a great resource for our schools. Not only are our students learning advanced agricultural techniques, we are also producing food for the campus, for sale in the local markets and teaching skills that are then passed on to the local communities where our graduates work and live. Our Director at West Nigeria Christian College, Biodun Olowabi had this to say, “Farming is usually done in a step by step process, usually one step at a time. From the choice of the farm site, to clearing, heaping or digging, to planting, weeding, and patiently tending the crops till maturity, and finally harvesting. The school farm had undergone the first three steps and is now in the fourth stage, which is planting of crops. We planted maize, water-melon, and cassava which agriculturally speaking can be termed mixed cropping. The corn had already germinated and is growing at a […]

As a parent of three beautiful daughters, the tragedy of the young girls taken captive in Nigeria is unimaginable. The horrors many of our brethren face in that country are a stark reminder of how blessed we are. Steve Worley who works with the School of Biblical Studies in Jos, Nigeria reports that at least 10 of these young girl’s families were affiliated with the churches of Christ. Please pray for all of those who have been taken captive; as well as those who have suffered loss in the bombings of bus stations, churches, and villages in Northern Nigeria. We do ask that you pray daily for these young girls whose names we know, and whose families are striving to serve the Lord in the worst of circumstances: 1) Asabe Lawa, 2) Sarah Nkeki, 3) Lugwa Samuel, 4) Tabitha Sila, 5) Sarava Amos, 6) Hauwa Abdu, 7) Rejoice Shaki, 8) Esther, John, 9) Kauna Lalai, 10) Ruth Fillow. I have been traveling to Nigeria since 2007. During most of my visits I have felt relatively safe during my travels (I say relatively, because there is always an uncertainty traveling inside of Nigeria). There were two instances when I was reminded of just what a dangerous place Nigeria really is. The first was during a visit to Nigerian Christian Hospital. I was standing just outside the gate when a disagreement broke […]

In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams. ~ Nigerian proverb The story is told of a noted General who asked a bridge builder in his troop how long it would take to build a bridge across a strategic point in the river. The engineer responded, “About three days.” He was told to draw up the plans and a few days later the General returned asking to see the plans. The engineer seemed surprised by the request, “The bridge is completed General, it will take a few more days if you want plans.” Challenges, struggles, and crisis’ sometimes have a way of distracting us from the important matters that need our attention. The Nigerian proverb, “In the moment of crisis the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams,” is a reminder to keep our minds open to new opportunities and pathways for growth. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul often took this approach. While he was confined to a prison in Rome he wrote an inspiring letter to his friends and spiritual family in Philippi. He was locked in prison, they were struggling with being persecuted for their religious beliefs, but he choose to build bridges, rather than dams. Listen to what he has to say: “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually […]

A couple of years ago I was introduced to one of our graduates at West Nigeria Christian College. Joseph Ahmed was studying to be a Muslim cleric when he was given a Bible. Despite threats, violence, and opposition from his own family he continued to study God’s Holy word. Ever since his conversion and the completion of his studies he has been a powerful force for the gospel of Christ in Nigeria. With the increase in violence that is occurring in Nigeria, especially the stories circulating about the 200+ young girls who have been kidnapped (see link) – I am reminded of just how important our work is in Nigeria. For the last several years those living in the 12 northern states have been under continual risk and we hear all to often of the bombings of churches, bus stations, and now the kidnapping of these innocent young girls. The circumstances are tragic, and now threats are increasing that the Boko Haram terrorist groups may start targeting locations in southern Nigeria, specifically Lagos (a city of 25 million people). Every attack, every death, every tragedy reminds me of how important our work is. We are not just training men and women of faith, we changing the landscape of a nation. Churches continue to be established, souls are led to Jesus and there are open doors to teach and influence those […]

RALLY FOR AFRICA – SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 – FLORENCE, AL It was a bright, sunny, Sunday morning in Nigeria when my dear brother Emmet Bassey showed up on a 1986 Kawasaki motorcycle. Emmet was the original owner of this bike, but the backroads and bush of the Nigerian countryside had taken it’s toll. I am confident that parts of his bike were held together by chewing gum and bailing wire. That was all fine until I realized that was my ride to Sunday morning services. We stopped three times to wire things back on during our ride. Motorcycles have become a primary means of transportation in Nigeria. There have been areas where the roads were so thick with them you would have thought you were driving through Sturgis or Daytona during Bike Week. It was that Sunday ride to services, the massive numbers of motorcycles in Nigeria, and my own affinity for riding that influenced me to promote a Rally for Africa motorcycle event. I figured maybe my leather clad brothers here in the U.S. might rally together to help our hard-working brethren in Nigeria. While details are still being worked out, there are few things that we do know. Proceeds from this event are going to assist in helping with some of the outreach programs of West Nigerian Christian College and Nigeria Christian Bible College. The event is going to […]

A few weeks ago I was attending our African Violet Fundraising Dinner and had the privilege of hearing Edet Udofia speak on “What Nigerian Christian College means to the people of Nigeria.” Edet was raised just a stones throw from the campus of NCBC and shared what the school meant to him, his family, and all the brethren in the region. Edet is just one of the shining examples of missionary leaders who have emerged from under the shadow of God’s work in Nigeria. Edet who now works here in the United States has baptized over 700 people through prison ministries and inner city evangelism. We are proud of the strong Christian leadership that has developed over six decades of work in Nigeria. Both West Nigeria Christian College and Nigerian Christian Bible College are fully staffed and directed by African brethren. They operate under local oversight and everyone on the field are indigenous workers. This “mantle of leadership” is evident through the efforts we have seen established in recent years. It is our Nigerian brethren (not American missionaries) who have initiated: 1) Vocational Training Programs in Computer Science; 2) Efforts to establish a degree program with the University of Ibadan; 3) The launch of International Christian Academy (K-12 program); 4) Fundraising efforts among the Nigerian Churches for the annual preacher’s forums and lectureships; 5) an extension program in Benin City, […]

Saturday afternoon I was sitting at the computer uploading some pictures to my Facebook account when I heard a soft “ping” as the chat feature opened on my account. It was one of the teachers at West Nigerian Christian College who had sent me a message through his smartphone. It struck me just how much has changed since I first visited Africa in 1987. I remember the communication challenges I faced when I first entered the mission field in the 1980’s. It would take weeks for mail to arrive and I very rarely made a phone call (with rates in excess of $5.00 per minute). Each month I would write my newsletter, mail it to the Crieve Hall Church of Christ who in turn would mail it to my contributors. Nowadays I receive emails from our staff on a weekly and sometimes a daily basis. Occasionally I receive a phone call (which runs about 20 cents a minute) and it won’t be long before we will be conducting board meetings with our school director’s logged in through Skype or some other online meeting service. A few years back African Christian Schools realized technology provided some of the answers to the challenges of working in a dangerous region of the world like Nigeria. While there is always a need to make missionary journies and visit the work (much the way Paul, […]

About Us

In 1944, Lawrence Avenue Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee sent Bible correspondence courses to American GI’s in Europe, they never imagined that one would make it’s way to Africa. A Nigerian policeman named C. A. O. Essien was referred to the course through a penpal organization in Germany. Not only were his scores top rate, but he put what he learned into practice. He and a friend baptized one another. In a short period, he reported an unbelievable number of congregations started. Essien was aware that his fellow church leaders were not adequately prepared to meet the needs of young congregations. He didn’t ask for foreigners to come and take over leadership. His request had a prophetic tone. “We can teach our people, but we need teaching ourselves. Send men to TEACH US, and we shall take Nigeria for the truth.” Over fifty years later, ACSF has two schools in Nigeria, one in the east, Nigerian Christian Bible College, and one in the west, West Nigerian Christian College, and has over 2,000 graduates. History has proven Essien to be correct. After fifty years of training men to preach in Nigeria, the number of churches has doubled every decade. As of today, there are around 8,000 churches in Nigeria.

Mission

The mission of African Christian Schools Foundation (ACSF) is to train preachers, strengthen churches and carry the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to the continent of Africa. ACSF pursues this mission through the training of preachers and evangelists, the education of Bible teachers and church leaders and the support of campaign and mission teams working in Africa. The major emphasis of our work is found in the training and education that is provided through our three partner schools: Nigerian Christian Bible College, West Nigeria Christian College and Tsumeb Bible Academy. In addition to the classes that are offered at each of these schools, we host an annual preacher’s forum in May and our Lecture Series in August of each year. In recent years, African Christian Schools Foundation has also started to support distance learning programs and remote leadership training programs for individuals who cannot attend school full-time, or are located in more remote regions. In the near future, ACSF will be adding internet access on each of our campuses allowing us to increase our distance learning opportunities. We are also looking at new ways to work in the remote regions of countries where local preachers cannot afford to leave their farms or congregations for extended periods of time to attend school. Your support of this mission has led to the establishment of thousands of congregations of the churches of Christ […]

Donate

You can donate your time! You can donate online! You can donate by check! You can donate by contacting us directly! How can I help? 1.) You can easily help with your time! Spread the word! The more people that know about the work we are doing in Africa, the better. Take a minute and send an email to a friend about African Christian Schools. Prayer! Pray that God will continue to do wonderful things through African Christian Schools! 2.) Make an online donation Now you can make a secure online donation to African Christian Schools with any major credit card or debit card. Just click the donate button below to get started! DONATE NOW HERE 3.) Donate by Check Please feel free to also donate by check. Please make your check to African Christian Schools Foundation and mail it to P.O. Box 41120, Nashville, TN 37204 4.) Other Giving Options Check out our projects and students sections that provide excellent ways for your church or family to get involved. Questions about donating? We’ll be happy to talk to you. Email: donate@africanchristianschools.org Phone: (615) 244-8181

Baptizing Stanislaus

One of the highlights of this month was when one of our students, Stanislaus, obeyed the gospel. Stanislaus had long contemplated baptism and at the beginning of the year we thought that he was going to be the first. Like so many students Stanislaus arrived here dead broke without much prospect of getting any support from home. He approached me wanting to know whether I could give him a job and all I could offer him was to look after my garden which he has done faithfully, watering the small patch of lawn and the small flower beds every morning before going to classes. On Saturdays he cleans the yard and does odd jobs around the house. Although his formal school education, like that of most of our students from the rural areas, is very sketchy, he has been zealous to learn, enrolling in an elective penmanship class I offered at the beginning of the year. By Jerry D’Alton

Schools

It has been an historic year for Nigerian Christian Bible College. We completed the purchase of the land in Ukpom and with the backing and support of our Nigeria brethren we have been able to start the reconstruction phase of the work at NCBC. In recent months we have replaced and repaired water systems, repaired our central power generator, and now some of the most critical work is being done in restoring the administration building (a requirement to retain our accreditation with the Nigerian University Council). The future looks bright as we look at the addition of new vocational programs, provide added security on campus, and with the help of the local government we are hopeful to place a power transformer in the village that will benefit both the college and the community. With great progress there has also been a significant increase in our expenses. Repairs are costly, scholarship funds have decreased over the past several years, and the exchange rate which was in our favor for a long period of time is now shifting back to normal (which means we get fewer Nigerian dollars in exchange). We urgently need your help in raising funds to complete this project. NCBC has been a beacon light not just across Nigeria, but across Africa for the past 62 years. We are close to restoring her to her former estate and that […]

For several years African Christian Schools has been working to provide vocational training and additional opportunities for our students. In March of this year a report was released in The Guardian that Nigeria was bracing for a severe food shortage and for the past several years Nigeria has been identified as #4 in the world as it pertains to food shortage risks. The ability of our graduates to learn basic survival gardening techniques (as taught to them by Healing Hands International representatives) has provided a great resource for our schools. Not only are our students learning advanced agricultural techniques, we are also producing food for the campus, for sale in the local markets and teaching skills that are then passed on to the local communities where our graduates work and live. Our Director at West Nigeria Christian College, Biodun Olowabi had this to say, “Farming is usually done in a step by step process, usually one step at a time. From the choice of the farm site, to clearing, heaping or digging, to planting, weeding, and patiently tending the crops till maturity, and finally harvesting. The school farm had undergone the first three steps and is now in the fourth stage, which is planting of crops. We planted maize, water-melon, and cassava which agriculturally speaking can be termed mixed cropping. The corn had already germinated and is growing at a […]

In the summer of 1995, Young Owukiabo asked President Henry Huffard to meet with a number of Christian men representing the “Committee of Saints.” This organization was formed to establish a Bible training school in Western Nigeria. Four years of planning and negotiations later, West Nigeria Christian College was started on twenty-three acres of donated land outside Abeokuta. In its first five years of operation, WNCC had one hundred graduates. Programs The two-year comprehensive Bible training program offered at WNCC serves two purposes. First, it prepares graduates of secondary school for university studies, grounding them in the faith and teaching them valuable study skills. Second, it serves as a basic course for men wishing to enter ministry. The program includes Bible, English, Ministry, World Religions, Education and Computer courses. WNCC and SBS student body In 2006, a new program began. With an additional year of study, students may earn the Advanced Diploma in Christian Ministry. Students are led in higher level theology courses, such as the Greek Language, Christian Evidences, Ethics and Guided Research. Entry Requirements Entry requirements may be obtained by writing: *Admissions WNCC and SBS P.O. Box 1630 Sapon Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria* Leadership and Teaching Staff WNCC is under the able direction of Mr. ‘Biodun Owolabi who served as Secretary of the Committee of Saints and has worked as an administrator of the school since its inception. […]

Namibia is relatively new territory for the churches of Christ. There are not massive numbers of converts to drive the need for schools as there are in Nigeria. But churches are being planted and workers trained primarily through the efforts of two brothers, John and Jerry D’Alton. John gave up his job in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and moved north to the city of Tsumeb, where there was more World Bible School interest. Between 1999 and 2000 he established a church and started a small school. A house was adapted to serve as a meeting place for the church and as a dormitory/classroom for the school. Program The program could be termed a basic Bible and marketable skill center. Students are taught how to study the Bible, how to become a Christian, identifying characteristics of the Lord’s church, how to live the Christian life and how to share their faith. In addition, they are taught English courses and computer courses. Namibia recently changed their national language to English, so language study is most appropriate. Even though classes rarely reach twenty in number, a surprising number of ethnic/tribal groups are represented. Some outstanding students have taken the gospel to their home areas and planted churches. Entry Requirements Anyone wishing to enroll in Tsumeb Bible Academy should set up an interview by writing: Admissions Tsumeb Bible Academy P.O. Box 1183 Tsumeb, […]

The first college of the Bible in Nigeria was started in 1954 on twenty beautiful acres in the village of Ukpom. NCBC is hailed as the flagship of Christian education in that nation. The school is actually five years older than its overseeing organization, African Christian Schools. Programs Since 1954 programs offered on the campus have varied. The “tried and true” training of ministers is a constant throughout the years. Thousands of ministers have been trained at NCBC, but with Nigerian’s poor economy, many have had difficulty supporting their families through church support alone. In an effort to provide a way for ministers to make a living without depending on local church support, university level studies were adopted. NCBC sought and obtained an affiliation with the University of Calabar in order to offer Bachelors Degrees in Biblical Studies and in Education. From 1991 to 2005, enrollment in the various programs grew from 79 to 271. Entry Requirements Entry into the Preacher Training program is dependent on the candidate being able to converse well in English and having the recommendation of his local church. Entry into university level programs requires the successful completion of a required number of GCE papers (common college entrance exam) and an acceptable grade made on his entrance examination. Candidates for any program should contact NCBC in person or through its mailing address at P.O. Box 40, […]